Shorty's Sunflower Café hosts avant-garde musical night

Christopher Feltner performs vocally during an experimental music night at Sunflower Cafe in Lower Pottsgrove on Thursday night.
Photo by Eileen Faust

LOWER POTTSGROVE­ — People don’t usually think of scrap metal and high-pitched noise as music, but customers at Shorty’s Sunflower Café enjoyed the unique sounds and more on Thursday night.

George Bieber, who owns Shorty’s Sunflower Café hosted an avant-garde musical dinner theatre at his café on 1494 North Charlotte St.

“It’s not everyone’s cup of tea,” Bieber said.

He added that he enjoys experimental music and wants to expand the scene for music of its kind in the Pottstown area. Bieber held a similar event in October and plans to bring the experience back during a weekend in August.

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He said he plans to host an avant-garde musical event three times a year because having it too often could cause people to lose interest.

He said customers from Thursday night said they enjoyed it, but there’s still not enough demand to have it every month.

Five different acts performed at the café Thursday night. The acts varied greatly from using forks to create music, voice alterations during a reading and a jazz band.

Guillermo Pizarro performed what he likes to call “experimental noise.” Pizarro said he has a jazz background but that scrap metal is his favorite medium.

“I’ve always been much more about texture then melodies,” he said.

The night contained more than just the listening of interesting sounds. Bieber titled the event Sonic Sketch Club and Dinner Theatre, because the night included drawings as well as food. He said he noticed a customer doodling on a sketchpad during the October event so decided to grow from there.

Sketchpads and pencils were laid out on a table in front of the musicians, available for anyone who was inspired to draw.

“Everybody liked that part of it,” Bieber said.

Scott McConnell was just one of many customers who let the music lead their pencil on paper. He does abstract acrylic art and was inspired by the night’s musicians, he said. He would draw during a musician’s performance then offer his drawing to the performer as a keepsake.

McConnell, along with his partner Matt Norcross, own Floating Fish Studios in Sanatoga. McConnell said they are electronic musicians themselves and were happy to hear that the café was hosting an experimental music night. He said there isn’t much of a scene for it in the area.

“It’s really cool that it’s happening out here,” he said.

Along with sketch pads and music, food was also offered at the café. For $15, guest enjoyed music, a main dish, apple pie, coffee and soda. Bieber said the night had a good turnout and that he thinks there were about 40 people at one time in the café watching the performers.

“It was a good, fun time,” he said.

Bieber said the season for the Sunflower Truck Stop food truck is starting, which puts limitations on his free time but he’s really hoping to bring the avant-garde music night back in August. He said he wants to keep expanding it including having more interaction between the customers and the performers.

About the Author

Michilea Patterson is the Fit for Life reporter at The Mercury, partially funded by the Pottstown Area Health and Wellness Foundation. She is an Army brat and her father retired from the military while stationed in Missouri. She was the editor-in-chief of her college newspaper, the Lincoln Clarion, in Jefferson City, Mo. She graduated from Lincoln with her B.S. in journalism in 2013. Reach the author at mpatterson@pottsmerc.com
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